what will the museum of the future be like?

Licensing, Remixing, and the overall question of rights entitlement

I know alot about technology and how to execute and implement working systems and create engaging sites. However, through my research I still do not have an answer on licensing and how to deal with this subject. Some museums have told me that as long as the items don't leave the museum its fine. Others "big institutions" it is clearly out of the picture.

The issue is people are still ripping the images and distributing them however they want. I do not know if it is actually something that can be controlled that easily. Look at napster, youtube, and itunes. I have been able to speak with the captains of the industry in TV and Music and the one regret they have always had is that they did not just work with the technology, but instead fought it.

How will museums handle this issue, because it will arise.

Some recent cases going on...
Damian Hirst and artist backlash against his antics.
http://artobserved.com/for-the-love-of-copyright-law-red-rag-to-a-b...

and
http://www.supertouchart.com/2009/02/13/newsart-gag-of-the-moment-e...

Also I got this from Lawrence Lessig of Creative Commons who is now representing Shepard Fairey in the Obama Change Remix Art.
http://www.lessig.org/blog/2009/02/from_the_amazing_timing_depart.html

I would love to know if there is a consensus on the issue or if it as wild west as it seems.

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Permalink Reply by Seb Chan on February 22, 2009 at 9:24pm

There are plenty of opportunities for museums to actively encourage the use of materials they hold whose Copyright has expired. Concerted action around releasing these materials is needed - and it is exciting to see the release of materials into places like the Commons on Flickr (~18 institutions now) and into Wikimedia (German Archive).

Where materials are still under Copyright then museums need to be engaging rights holders and creators to explain why some re-uses might be beneficial to all concerned. Most rights holders are more than happy to see their work repurposed by students and teachers via a museum but want to prevent commercial use.

Museums need to operate in good faith and if they wish to encourage reuse of others' works then they need to be be similarly encouraging of their own works and IP assets.

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Permalink Reply by Mia on February 23, 2009 at 3:58am

Negotiations with known copyright holders is one issue, but at least that's quantifiable and possible to influence. Orphan works is a huge issue for some museums, depending on the age and provenance of their collections.